Investment in Artificial Intelligence: Porsche has participated in startup Urgent.ly. The American company sees itself as the world’s leading platform for mobility and roadside assistance. The entire round of financing amounts to 21 million US dollars (18.5 million euros). In addition to “Porsche Ventures”, “BMW i Ventures” and “InMotion Ventures”, the venture capital division of Jaguar Land Rover, took over shares in Urgent.ly.
The US startup platform supports roadside assistance services in North America, Europe and Asia. With the help of artificial intelligence and geo-localization, Urgent.ly connects drivers, service providers and car manufacturers in real time and thus coordinates the best and fastest possible assistance in the event of a breakdown. In the event of a breakdown, the customer thus has transparency from the very beginning on the location of the second to the second and the estimated time of arrival of the breakdown service. In the US, more than half of all roadside assistance providers are already connected to the platform, which serves around 45,000 networked vehicles.
“Urgent.ly is an innovative platform solution that scores with speed as well as transparency and is also internationally scalable. We are convinced that it can help us to further increase our customer satisfaction in critical situations, “says Kilian Sauerwald, Head of Aftersales Regional and Market Development at Porsche. “The Urgent.ly team is distinguished by its in-depth expertise in the customer and technology business. That’s why we chose a strategic investment. “
“The support of our investors confirms our strategy and our business model. We want to create an offer for mobility and roadside assistance that meets customer expectations and needs, “said Chris Spanos, CEO and co-founder of Urgent.ly. “Our goal is to further enhance our connected services in the global automotive, insurance and mobility markets.”
Porsche Ventures invests in business models around the customer experience, mobility and digital lifestyle topics; In addition, future technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain as well as virtual and augmented reality are among the search fields. With its venture capital activities, the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer is seeking strategic investments in young companies that are in the early stages of growth.
Most recently, Porsche participated in the Berlin start-up Gapless. The young company’s blockchain-based solution enables customers to digitally manage their classic cars, including their entire history, and share them with other users in a forgery-proof way. In addition, Porsche holds shares in the fast-growing Swiss technology company WayRay. The start-up develops and produces holographic augmented reality head-up display technologies and works to seamlessly integrate virtual objects into the driving experience. In addition, Porsche has invested as a strategic investor in the start-ups Anagog, Miles, home-iX and the technology and sports car company Rimac.
Source: Porsche
